


our place in space

by Anonymous



Category: No Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-31
Updated: 2020-10-31
Packaged: 2021-03-08 23:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,891
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27314911
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Log of Dr. Rodrigues and her team.[Written as a fun spooky story for a halloween party!]
Collections: Anonymous





	our place in space

[Log #1 start] 

This is log #1. I’m Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus. We were sent out to [REDACTED] coordinates way out in the northwest direction of Earth. (Chuckle.) We’ve been out on his journey for a couple of years now, studying the star but now our orbit is getting close. This is the chance we’ve been waiting for! 

[Log #1 end]

[Log #2 start]

This is log #2. I’m Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus. We recently just touched down, it was a success! The whole team is in cheers! I still hope that cake is good; it’s been almost 2 years. 

…

We recently started scanning the star and it’s amazing. It’s more powerful than we thought and the energy is given off in seemingly random bursts. The star is so bright it makes it look like it’s always daytime out here. Sometimes, it drowns out the other stars...Makes you realize that we’re really alone in the middle of nowhere just in our tiny little orbit. 

We’ll be implementing the thermal cameras later today.

[Log #2 end]

[Log #5 start]

Oh- oh golly. Rodrigues here, team lead of Cetrus. I- 

(heavy breathing.)

I- there was an accident; we just l-lost Marty. There was- we just set up the camera. It was a bit delayed because the solar flares weren’t making it safe but there was finally a lull in the wind and we went out to set it up. Everything- everything was okay and then out of nowhere a gust of wind snapped the cord. 

We’re- we’re all a little shaken up. There’s- it really makes you realize that there’s nothing out there and the only thing protecting us is these thin walls of metal and foam. The only thing tethering us to this ship is a thin cord when we go outside. I’m- I’m canceling all the preliminary spacewalks. I know the data will have to suffer a bit but it’s not worth the risk right now. 

The cameras are set up, everything is working except CAM3. It didn’t get finished plugged in when- when that happened.

[Log #5 end]

[Log #7 start]

Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus, log- uh- 7. Things are looking a bit better now. The team recently finished the general outline. The weather has calmed down a lot since we got here. Cynthia found a mathematical equation to predict the solar flares based on prior data points and it works out relatively well. 

I’m seeing blue skies from this point out. The only bad thing that happened was that the coffee machine jammed up.

Oh best of all!

(crinkling noises)

We found some pasta in the old food storage. I know it’s not much but we thought we ran out.

…

Marty would have enjoyed it- he is- er, was- from Italy. A little toast of home. We- we informed his family of his passing a while ago but it takes almost a week to send the message. I hope they’re faring better than us. 

[Log #7 end]

[Log #12 start]

Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus, log 12. The- we have Babu, the senior advisor, in the infirmary now. I- we don’t know what happened. We finally started getting some clear images from the star and then we heard this- this horrible scream. Babu was- on the ground, the glass to the screen was punched out. All the glass shards were flying everywhere. We had to get the vacuum and seal everything off. 

Babu wasn’t making any coherent sentences. We got Reyes working on his hand wound but there wasn't anything for his head. He said his head hurt but when we tried to get him into the brain scanner he yelled out in pain. 

Babu’s not opening his eyes. He kept crying and when Reyes finally pried his eye open, he found that he was blinded. It was similar to what would happen if you looked into the sun. It wasn’t pretty, some of Babu’s flesh was melded together. 

I’m pretty worried about him. He keeps calling me his son’s name. I’m afraid he might have suffered from some brain damage. I hope not though. 

(pause)

Reyes and Cynthia made a game out of catching his tears.

(weary laugh)

[Log #12 end]

[Log #13 start]

Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus, log 13. We lost Babu in his sleep. He kept calling out to Shiva. Kept telling me that the star was Shiva and warned me to “tread blindly”. 

We’ve inspected the other hardware to figure out what caused this so it won’t happen again. This- this never happened before on Earth. I’m suspecting that it had something to with the odd solar flares that keep going. 

We’re not sure where to put Babu’s body. Reyes suggested the freezer but I think we’re going to have to suit him up and eject him. Or at least hold him to the side of the ship. We’ll have to wait for his family to respond. 

Speaking of family, we got a response from Marty’s. It’s- it’s bittersweet. They’re still getting messages from him that took a while to process. Marty used to send a message every day! That guy would not shut up. 

(sigh) 

The research is going okay. I’m- we’re glad that we got a large number of notes from Babu. I said that we shouldn’t look through the camera anymore, only through the computer AI compiled data. Perkins says that’s silly but I don’t want another freak accident like this to happen. 

[Log #13 end]

[Log #27 start]

This is Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus, log 27. The research has been going well recently. Nothing of interest happened. We ran out of crossword and sudoku pages so Cynthia has been programming games in their free time.

The data has been streaming in slowly due to the restrictions imposed. We found some interesting magnetic properties of the wave. We have relatively inclusive documentation about the star. It seems to be affecting the radio a little bit. 

Perkins found out something interesting, actually. She was messing around with her handheld radio and actually heard a transmission. It was absolute garbage but we could hear something reminiscent of a voice. We thought it- it might be from a nearby vessel but we looked and no one was there. 

When she tried to clean it up, we found that it was similar to the formula Cynthia found earlier- the one measuring the pattern of the solar flares. It was odd that it sounded so much like a voice speaking. 

[Log #27 end]

[Log #36 start]

This is Dr. Rodrigues, lead of team Cetus, log 36. We started up spacewalks again and then something unexpected happened. We tried to go out but then a solar flare started up again, completely out of the blue. It wasn’t in the pattern and it- the timing was impeccable so it seemed like the star almost reacted to us and warned us to go back inside. It makes me almost think it’s an animal or something. Like a celestial being in the sky. Maybe it’s shy. 

Reyes is analyzing the chemical structures and the other dust particles. I posted this question to him and he set up this whole conspiracy theory document as a joke. 

...It’s unsettling comparable to a living animal. The star, that is, not Reyes. Despite acting like one, he is, in fact, not a robot. He’s too funny for that. 

I’m worried about Perkins though. She remains holed up in her bunk, just lying there. She does her work and all but she pretty much stopped interacting with the team. I miss her crazy stories and her morning yelling at the coffee machine. 

It’s a little unnerving how much time she spends alone. I hear her sometimes whispering to the radio like it’s an old friend or a lover. Maybe it's loneliness or something. I won’t stop her though. I’m thinking it's comfort or coping mechanism like these logs is to me. I think she misses Babu; they used to talk a lot about their kids back- back on Earth. 

[Log #36 end]

[Log #48 start]

S-something bad just happened! Perkins, she just left the- she’s- she’s dead. Out of the airlock. Everything’s going shit. I can’t- I don’t believe it. I think it’s something to do with the star or the radio signals or something. 

It’s only the three of us now. Me, Cynthia, Reyes...although the spacecraft is kinda cramped it feels so empty. 

(rumble)

Uh- 

(unintelligible screaming)

Holy crap! 

(unintelligible yelling)

(static) 

[REYES! REYES ARE YOU OKAY? CAN YOU HEAR ME?]

[YEAH, I’M- CYNTHIA WATCH OUT]

[RODRIGUES- GET THEM- THEY’RE- LEAVE ME]

[DON’T BE STUPID REYES, I CAN SAVE YOU BOTH- JUST-] 

[RODRIGUES!]

[REYES WHAT ARE YOU DOING?]

[I’m- you have to- you can only save one of us. I’m not letting you choose.]

[REYES! Stop that, it’s an order!]

(unintelligible yelling)

[Rodrigues, for the love of-]

[...]

[Can you hear me, Reyes?]

[Yes, is Cynthia safe?]

[It’s alright, I’m here Reyes, I’m safe.]

[...Can I talk with Rodrigues?]

[Yeah- yeah, here]

(static)

[Reyes.]

[Rodrie.]

(smirk)

[I’m sorry.]

[Don’t be.]

[LIFE SUPPORT: OXYGEN LEVELS 47%; 2 HOURS REMAINING]

[Rod, I’m- I’m really scared.]

[It’s alright. I’m here. You’re- you’re a good man, you know that? I’m- this was a really big sacrifice.]

(chuckle)

[I thought doing a sacrifice like this would be- it would be less scary. Like one of those superhero or cowboy movies.]

[It’s alright to be scared. We’ll be here as long as we can.]

[Thank you...]

[...So long, cowboy]

(smirk)

[So long, Rodrigues. Thanks for all the fish.]

[Log #48 end]

\------------

The sacrifice was pointless. Rodrigues knew this. Cynthia didn’t. Cynthia didn’t need to know. Rodrigues would put on a brave face.

“So, what now?” Cynthia asked, voice shaky. They were huddled into the corner of the small escape spaceship. Rodrigues sat beside them, patting their shoulder in a comforting way.

It was hopeless. They were an incomprehensible amount of miles away from any living thing other than each other and… the star if it was living. There was going to be no superhero going to save them--two tiny humans in a small chunk of metal. Even if they managed to stretch their resources, there was no way to steer the ship. If they weren’t hit by space debris, they would still be on a crash course to the star. 

There was an extra battery, their suits were still pretty low. It was a no-brainer who would get it. Obviously, Cynthia would. But, was it really worth it? It would be a fight to get Cynthia to accept the extra battery. 

Besides, there was no chance for survival for either of them. And, it would be terrible to die alone, sitting next to a corpse for the next few days. 

Rodrigues detached the spare battery.

“Hey- I don’t want that, you should take it!” Cynthia started as Rodrigues fumbled with their suit. 

“What do you want to listen to?” Rodrigues said.

“Oh, uh, how about “We’ll meet again”?” Cynthia said. Rodrigues let out a chuckle. 

The two sat, listening to music as the batteries on their suits ran out. The carbon monoxide built up, sending them into a deep, forever sleep.

Maybe the star just wanted some friends.


End file.
